The firm admitted the charges of failing to ensure employees’ health and safety at Grantham Magistrates’ Court. It also pleaded guilty to failing to prevent access to dangerous machinery.
The Health and Safety Executive, which brought the prosecution, said the incident was “easily avoidable”.
Inspector Judith Mcnulty said that “Faulty machinery can be easily fixed, but broken bones and torn tendons are not so quickly repaired.
“The incident could have so easily been avoided if effective systems were in place to ensure the safety of engineers working on faults and machines were properly guarded.”
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 an employer has a duty to ensure that they provide a safe working environment for their employees and, more specifically, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. These regulations provide that, under section 11, every employer shall ensure that measures are taken which are effective to prevent access to a dangerous part of machinery which could include the provision of a fixed guard to protect the employee. Another requirement is to provide appropriate training for those who use the equipment.
Employers commonly act to undertake risk assessments on machinery such as this so that the chances of accidents occurring are greatly reduced, however, it appears that Moy Park have fallen short in this instance and the consequences of this are that an employee has suffered an injury through no fault of his own.